Get Back (Black, Brown and White)

Get Back (Black, Brown and White)
Big Bill Broonzy. Chicago, 8. November 1951
Wer hier "Get Back" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) von den Beatles erwartete, hat Pech. Ich rate: Get back!

This little song that I'm singin' about,
People, you all know that it's true,
If you're black and gotta work for livin',
Now, this is what they will say to you,
They says: "If you was white,
You's alright,
If you was brown,
Stick around,
But if you's black, oh, brother,
Get back, get back, get back."

I was in a place one night,
They was all havin' fun,
They was all buyin' beer and wine,
But they would not sell me none.
They said: "If you was white,
You's alright,
If you was brown,
You could stick around,
But as you's black, hmm, hmm, brother,
Get back, get back, get back."

I went to an employment office,
I got a number and I got in line,
They called everybody's number,
But they never did call mine.
They said: "If you was white,
You's alright,
If you was brown,
You could stick around,
But as you's black, hmm, hmm, brother,
Get back, get back, get back."

Me and a man was workin' side by side,
Now, this is what it meant:
They was payin' him a dollar an hour,
And they was payin' me fifty cent.
They said: "If you was white,
You'd be alright,
If you was brown,
You could stick around,
But as you's black, oh, brother,
Get back, get back, get back."

I helped win sweet victories,
With my plow and hoe,
Now, I want you to tell me, brother,
What you gonna do 'bout the old Jim Crow?
Now, if you is white,
You's alright,
If you's brown,
Stick around,
But if you's black, oh, brother,
Get back, get back, get back.

Diesen Song hatte Big Bill Broonzy (William Lee Conley Broonzy, 26. Juni 1893 Scott, MS. – 15. August 1958 Chicago, IL.) bereits ein paar Wochen zuvor in Frankreich mit leicht anderem Text aufgenommen. Mercury traute sich erst Jahre später ihn zu veröffentlichen.

“Most refused to put out "Black, Brown and White"—a powerful attack on racism with the memorable tell-it-like-it-is chorus, "Get back," after Broonzy wrote it in 1949; two years later, in France, writer-critic Hugues Panassie and record company officials helped him get it in circulation.” – Big Bill Broonzy

Als Single erschien von derselben Session "Willie Mae" / "Hollerin' the Blues", Mercury 8261.

Big Bill Broonzy

Big Bill Broonzy Lyrics

Blues Lyrics: Big Bill Broonzy

Harry's Blues Lyrics Online, Big Bill Broonzy Lyrics

Varianten des "old saying" (?)

"If are light, you're alright. If you're brown, stick around. If you're black, stand back." (Valerie Wilson Wesley. Devil's Gonna Get Him. S. 148)
"If you're black, stay back. If you're brown, stick around. If you're white, you're alright."
"If are bright, you're right. If you're brown, stick around. If you're black, stand back."